The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo
Press Division – Editor: Benedicte Tresselt Koren

Norway Daily No. 172/02

Date: 11 September 2002

Norwegian economy not affected by last year’s terrorist attacks (Aftenposten)

The terrorist attacks on the USA one year ago had almost no impact on the Norwegian economy. But the price of oil links Norway to a possible war in the Middle East. Per Richard Johansen, head of research at Statistics Norway, said a year ago that the economic impact would be small in light of the "big figures" for the Norwegian economy. And he was right. "The only concrete effect we can trace is that Norwegians cut back on foreign travel in the fourth quarter last year. I am not aware of the attacks having had any other direct effect on the Norwegian economy," he said.

No major Norwegian contribution likely in the event of war with Iraq (Aftenposten)

"It is natural for us to concentrate on Kosovo and Afghanistan, and I think it highly unlikely that we will pull out of those areas," said Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold (Con). The events of September 11 speeded up the reorganization of the Armed Forces, but Ms Krohn Devold refuses to speculate about Norway’s contribution to any new war with Iraq. "It will be an fascinating autumn," said the Minister, referring to Iraq and the outlook of a US attack on that country. She was reluctant to predict whether Norway would participate in a war with Iraq, but points out that Norway is already stretched very thin following its military engagement in Kosovo and Afghanistan. In a few weeks time 130 Norwegian servicemen and women, and six F-16 aircraft will be stationed in Kyrgyzstan to support Operation Enduring Freedom and the international security force, ISAF.

ECON accused of being Stoltenberg’s behind-the-scenes agent (Dagbladet)

Together with the then prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, the Centre for Economic Analysis (ECON) was a driving force behind Statoil’s partial privatization two years ago. Finn Lied (Lab), an opponent of privatization, says he felt that ECON chief executive Kjell Roland acted as Mr Stoltenberg’s behind-the-scenes agent. The Statoil affair was difficult for Mr Stoltenberg. Half the Labour Party was opposed to privatization. Mr Lied believes ECON has a credibility problem after NRK’s Brennpunkt documentary programme last night, which broadly concluded that ECON supplies the conclusions its customers ask for. The Brennpunkt programme last night revealed that it was ECON which produced the arguments used by Mr Stoltenberg when he toppled the Bondevik coalition over the issue of gas-fired power stations and took office in March 2000.

ECON fears for credibility (Aftenposten)

The Centre for Economic Analysis (ECON) was torn to shreds in last night’s Brennpunkt documentary on NRK TV. ECON’s chief executive, Kjell Roland, fears that the programme could weaken public confidence in the firm. The programme-makers claimed that the conclusions of a large number of ECON’s analyses supported the positions of those organizations or companies which had commissioned them. Both Mr Roland and ECON’s chairman, Jonas Gahr Støre, emphasize that it is ECON’s role as "the most influential knowledge community" in Norway which has prompted NRK to devote such a large amount of resources to them. But it is obvious that this silver lining cannot obscure the cloud now gathering over the company. "We make a living from our credibility. Any doubts about the quality of the work we do is a threat to us. If the programme leaves the impression that ECON is slightly suspect, it could be damaging for us," said Mr Roland in an interview with Aftenposten.

Only "hush-hush" lawyers will be granted access (Dagbladet)

Defence lawyers in serious criminal cases could be denied access to information regarding police methods and sources, while specially appointed lawyers will be allowed to check over the way the police have handled the investigation, but without contacting the accused. State Secretary Jørn Holme (Lib) confirms that this is one of the models for legislative change which the Ministry of Justice is now working on after the recent heroin trial scandal. Labour’s legal affairs spokesman, Knut Storberget, yesterday called for restrictions to be placed on defence counsels’ access to information in serious cases where revealing details of police sources could put people’s lives in jeopardy. If the Government puts forward proposals along these lines, they will receive substantial majority support in the Storting.

Gambling on drop in numbers taking sick leave (Dagsavisen)

The number of people taking sick leave just keeps on rising. Yet despite this the Government has set aside less money to pay for sickness benefits in next year’s national budget. According to the Newspapers’ News Agency (ANB), the Government is assuming in the 2003 budget that sickness benefit costs will fall. Labour and Government Administration Minister Victor D. Norman will neither confirm nor deny this claim before the budget is announced in October. However, he denies that the amount of money allocated to pay for sickness benefits represents a political imperative. "The amount of money allocated for this purpose will rest on the agreements which have been entered into by the parties concerned and the policy on this issue which has been adopted when the budget is announced," he said. The Government has therefore chosen to take the unions at their word and is expecting a drop in the numbers taking sick leave as a result of the agreement on an inclusive workplace. This agreement is intended to lead to a 20 per cent cut in the number of people on sick leave by the end of 2005.

Christmas comes early to Gjensidige NOR customers (Verdens Gang)

Christmas has come early to Gjensidige NOR’s life insurance customers. The 327,000 customers are about to receive shares and cash totalling almost NOK 1.9 billion. This largesse comes as the result of Gjensidige NOR’s decision yesterday, after two years of waiting, to convert itself into a limited company. Up until now the life insurer has been a "mutual" company, which means it has been owned by its customers. These customers will now be allocated shares in proportion to the amount of business they have with the company.

Experts fear epidemic could spread (Verdens Gang)

Experts believe the dreaded legionnaires’ disease bacteria could still be active and be spreading the infection from an unidentified location. "This is dreadful. The awful thing is that we have to wait until more patients come in. It is so sad. We must hope that we can find the source of the infection quickly," said Maz Jens Holm, in charge of infectious disease prevention at the Central Hospital in Rogaland. He confirms that Stavanger has once again been hit by an outbreak of legionnaires’ disease. The hunt for the source of the infection has so far proved fruitless.

No reason to stockpile (Dagsavisen)

The oil industry and the unions are in complete disagreement over the cause of the oil strike. But they do agree that there is no reason to stock up on petrol. All petrol and diesel production in Norway will cease after the oil strike was intensified on Monday night. But the oil companies have substantial reserves of fuel, and it is uncertain whether consumers will notice the strike in the form of dry petrol pumps. The two unions, PRIFO and NOFU, which both belong to the Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS), are in dispute with the Norwegian Oil Industry Association. Only PRIFO members have as yet been called out on strike.

Worth Noting

• The Centre Party’s Åslaug Haga, who is a member of the Storting’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has demanded that International Development Minister Hilde F. Johnson says how the development assistance authorities have responded to the criticism aimed at Arne Fjørtoft’s Worldview International foundation and its Norwegian offshoot, Worldview Rights. Ms Haga is supported by the Conservative Party’s Inge Lønning, who believes details of the affair should be reported to the Storting.
  (Nationen)
• Incoming Labour Party leader, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he is open to opening the party’s annual conference to the public and the media. Norway’s most tightly closed party could therefore suddenly become Norway’s least tightly closed. But Mr Stoltenberg, who is currently deputy leader, feels it necessary to emphasize that he has still not finally decided what his opinion on this matter is.
  (Verdens Gang)
• The owners of the Bow Eagle are to pay compensation to the families of those who died and the surviving crew members of the French fishing boat Cistude. In the course of the next few days they will receive a partial compensation payment from the Odfjell shipping line, which owns the Bow Eagle, totalling almost NOK 1 million. TV2 is given to understand that the families of each of the four fishermen who died will be offered NOK 200,000, while NOK 58,000 will be offered to each of the three survivors.
  (tv2.no)
• The Norwegian Investors’ Forum, led by chairman Stein Erik Hagen, is extremely dissatisfied with the Conservative ministers Per-Kristian Foss and Ansgar Gabrielsen. According to the plutocrats, business is losing out because of the Government’s wrong economic policy, wrong fiscal policy and wrong industrial policy.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• At Storskog, on the border between Norway and Russia, Norwegian police have uncovered a large-scale attempt to smuggle stolen luxury cars. So far seven cars, with a combined value of some NOK 10 million, have been seized. The cars were stolen in a number of European countries and were destined for Russia. An East European organized crime ring is thought to be behind the smuggling attempt.
  (Aftenposten)
• Carl Fredrik Seim and Gunn Aarøe Uppstrøm, who recently purchased the Mjellem & Karlsen shipyard in Bergen and then put the company into liquidation, have sold off shipbuilding plant and equipment to the tune of NOK 45 million. The court-appointed liquidator, Arne Laastad, says that the assets belong to the bankrupt estate. The dispute could derail the couple’s plans for the future of the Bergen shipyard.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

The decision by the Director General of Public Prosecutions to drop the charges against two people arrested 18 months ago for possession of 35 kilos of heroin leaves a lot of unanswered questions and one clear conclusion. The conclusion is that society has demonstrated a spinelessness which is wholly out of keeping with the population’s sense of justice. Only the answers to the unanswered questions can indicate whether that spinelessness can be defended or even has any legitimacy. The reason given by the Director of Public Prosecutions, that a criminal trial in which the defence lawyers would be given access to all the documents surrounding the case would endanger the lives of police informants, can neither be accepted or rejected without further ado. Neither can the defence lawyers’ claims that the public prosecutors are citing witness safety concerns to draw a veil over the fact that the police have used methods which do not bear investigation. But since it is the Director General of Public Prosecutions who has decided to drop the charges, it is primarily to him that the demand for a more thorough explanation must be addressed. However, the most important thing is that our politicians do what they have to do as quickly as possible to prevent similar incidents happening in the future. It is therefore positive that Minister of Justice Odd Einar Dørum has said he will lay the necessary bill before the Storting shortly after it reconvenes for the autumn session. Any legislative changes must not weaken the right to due process under the law which a defendant must have in a Norwegian court. But at the same time, the authorities must have the freedom of action that is necessary to prevent people caught with the largest drugs haul in Norwegian history being allowed to go free, without even having to appear before a court of law.